Marshall amp man dies

Share with:

Marshall amp man - Jim Marshall - "the Father of Loud" has died aged 88.

Mr Marshall, who originally owned a music shop in London, founded Marshall Amplification 50 years ago.

Lets face it, if you played music a Marshall was never far away. Jimi Hendrix knew it and so did Kurt Cobain.

The company statement said he was a "legendary man" who led a "truly remarkable life".

A Slash tweet said: "The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening. R & R will never be the same w/out him. But, his amps will live on FOREVER!"

Jim Marshall began building amplifiers in the early 1960s, using the Fender Bassman amp as a model, creating what later became known as "the Marshall sound".

After talking to Pete Townsend and Ritchie Blackmore, who were customers at shop, he realised there was a potential gap in the market to make a cheaper alternative to the models available at the time.

It took him six attempts to create an amp he was happy with.

As the company grew, Mr Marshall expanded his products, unveiling the Master Volume Marshall amps and the classic JCM800 split channel amps.

"Jim rose to become one of the forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar, as we know and love it today, to be born," the statement said.

"In addition to the creation of the amps, chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes."Jim Marshall with Motorhead's Lemmy Lemmy, from the rock band Motorhead, also owns Marshall equipment

In 2003 he was given the OBE for his services to music and charity. He was a regular supporter of Macmillan and the Willen Hospice.

He was ever generous to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where he was treated for tuberculosis as a child.